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he had reproved her? That was not possible, but what couldHe checked the bitter round of thoughts angrily. He had been over that matter ten thousand times already. |
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The conclusion he and Alinor had come to was that Sir Peter might be considering rebellion, but Sir Peter was an old and loyal servant. Besides, after the fall of the keep in Sussex, it was unlikely that any vassal not yet in rebellion would begin now. Turn the suspicion around and add in Ian's near surety that Llewelyn was casting eyes at Powys and looking for a reason to attack Gwenwynwyn. If Sir Peter had warned Alinor of Llewelyn's intentions, which he might have heard of through Gwenwynwyn, and Alinor would not attend to himwhat must Sir Peter think? If Ian himself were an unimportant castellan and saw the upper millstone of Llewelyn above him and the nether millstone of Llewelyn's clan brother below himsaw also that the wedge that kept the two stones apart, that is, Lady Alinor, was withdrawnhe would expect to be ground to dust between them. |
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One matter was not clear. If Sir Peter was convinced and rebellious, why did he not act at once? Why had he welcomed Alinor on progress? Why was he so glad to see Ian? But rebellion had never been in questiononly ridding himself of the baleful influence of the Llewelyn-bound husband. Murder was the logical answer. Presumably, when Ian was dead Alinor would return to her normal self. But surely that would be to fall off the spit into the fire. Alinor would scarcely be grateful for the murder of her husband if, as Sir Peter must assume to make the argument tenable, she was so enamored of him. Besides, murder was surely an excessive reaction. Why had Sir Peter not repeated his warnings when Alinor came on progress? Suddenly, Ian grinned. He probably had broached the topic, but from the wrong direction. Instead of warning Alinor of Llewelyn's or Gwenwynwyn's intentions, he had warned |
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